The Dark Element: The Gold Chronicles: Book VI
by CJ Moliere
Summary: When the Sky God marries the Queen of the Underworld the Balance shall be restored. An ancient legend, two hearts from different pantheons, and a love that spans realms and time. Thor and Persephone, reborn as Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West -can such an unusual love survive despite all the odds against them? Or will their love falter and the realms be cast into darkness?
1. The Legend of the Sky God

By CJ Moliere & Snapegirlkmf

Follow me, your dead heart queen

One more time into the fray

Decadent, dissonant, eloquent

The dark element, permanent

In our hearts it always burns

The Dark Element - The Dark Element

Alternate Asgard

Summer, 2019

"There is a legend among my people, one my mother told me long ago, when I first came of age. She spoke of an ancient pairing-of the Sky God who married the Queen of the Underworld, and so joined both the Realm of the Living and the Dead in harmony. For the Norns gave us the cycle of seasons and eternal life, and for there to be balance, you must have both life and death, winter and summer, light and dark. I never understood what that legend meant to me. Until now."

Could it be? Is Thor Odinson the bondmate the Fates intended for me all along?

After centuries of heartbreak and deceit, Persephone Diosa wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

Mount Olympus

Centuries earlier

"You DARE to defy the Fates, daughter?" the Greek goddess Demeter raged at her daughter.

"I believe the Fates are wrong and I am the Sky Goddess who will marry the King of the Underworld to join the Realm of the Living and the Dead." Persephone declared firmly.

"Then you are an even bigger fool than I feared and for your foolishness I lay upon you this curse: the offspring of your union shall be at war with each other until the last breath is drawn!"

"Mama, you can't mean that!" Persephone cried.

"I mean every word if you allow Hades to seduce you!"

"He hasn't seduced me! I love him! He loves me!"

"He is using you against your father, can't you see that? Zeus banished his brother to the Underworld because he's too dangerous. He intends to make himself the king of the gods. He is as vicious as Cronus and would kill us all without a second thought!"

"I am going to him, Mama. Curse or no curse." Persephone glared at her mother defiantly. "We will combine our powers and create our own world where we'll be free of you and your tyranny."

Demeter smirked. "Go on then but in time you will realize you've made a terrible mistake. You will not be welcomed back into this pantheon."

"I won't need it. I'll have my own!"

Alternate Asgard

Summer, 2019

She and Hades had created six parallel worlds where they reigned as King and Queen and she bore Hades three daughters; Lurline, Alemedia and Ozmalita. Their eldest Lurline was sent into the mortal realm on her twentieth birthday to rule as Queen of the first of the six worlds, Nonestica. A few years later she married a mortal named Ivan Strogoff, a powerful sorcerer who'd accidentally created a portal to their world from Earth. After the birth of their first child Lurline made her mortal husband a god by giving him ambrosia and renamed him Aramon. For a while it seemed that Demeter's curse was nothing more than words flung in the heat of anger until Lurline and Aramon left the mortal realm to rule Paradise, the realm mortals with pure hearts and souls could ascend to when their lives ended. Those whose hearts and souls were corrupted by darkness would be send to Ephesis, the name Hades and Persephone had given their new Underworld.

It would be Ozmalita's task to determine which realm the mortals' souls would go to and rare occasions she would allow one to be reborn with a new identity. These souls had unfinished business in their first lives and it was her hope that they would accomplish what they set out to do in their second. Many of those reborn were Persephone's mortal descendants, the Strogoff and Ozopov, all killed by their own blood kin.

The first victim of Demeter's curse would be Persephone herself, murdered at the hands of her second daughter, Alemedia. Killing another god was no easy feat and could only be done by another god with powers greater than or equal to their own. Alemedia had centuries to prepare for the day when she would kill her mother, subjugate her father and take what she felt was her rightful place on the dark throne but her ultimate goal was rule all the realms living and dead and take her father's revenge against the Greek pantheon.

Persephone shuddered, the image of the wraith that had been sent for her that day flashing before her eyes. The monstrosity had been created by Hades to kill gods and mortals alike, preventing their souls from ascending to the afterlife. She'd pleaded with him many times to destroy it but he'd insisted on keeping it around 'for their protection'. She now knew the only soul her husband wanted to protect was his own. Tears came to her eyes when she recalled the day she'd finally seen her husband for what he was.

She was still Zelena then, the Wicked Witch of the West in the second Storybrooke created when that Regina cast the Dark Curse. In this incarnation she was Regina's elder sister, abandoned by their mother and rejected by Rumplestiltskin, all the evil deeds she committed mere stepping stones in her quest for revenge against them. She'd begun her quest to change shortly after the birth of her fourth daughter, Robin. Robin's father was the legendary Robin Hood, also her younger sister's lover. Little Robin may have been born out of revenge but she loved her child dearly wanted a better life for her.

Her cursed self met Hades years earlier when he offered his assistance in gathering the ingredients she needed for her spell to travel back in time. She'd fallen in love with him all over again but her desire for revenge was greater than her love for him and he'd gone back to Ephesis. She'd never expected to be drawn back into his web of deceit and yet she had. Demeter made her contempt for their union known through her curse on their offspring, Zeus stopped his brother's heart and bound most of his powers, the lightning staff Hades had stolen broken in two pieces. One of the staff's powers was to destroy souls and Hades intended to use it to destroy all the souls on Mount Olympus.

"You'll never have the power to destroy me, Brother and one day my daughter will see you for what you are," Zeus had predicted.

That day came in Storybrooke Two as it was once called. She'd ignored Regina's warnings that Hades was lying to her, that he'd only used her and her true love's kiss to restore his powers and it had been her youngest daughter's father who paid the price. Robin Hood was believed dead, his soul destroyed by the restored lightning staff. She would find out months later Robin and Rumple's son Baelfire were trapped in one of Ephesis' worst prisons, the Realm of the Forgotten, constructs killed in their places. A fate worse than death.

Storybrooke Two

Spring, 2017

"The only way to be safe is to use this power to create a new kingdom...our kingdom!"

"Can't we just be happy together!" she cried. "I mean, why do we need a kingdom!" Persephone protested.

"This is about getting back at the families who never believed in us. Remember what I told you: there's no better revenge..."

"Than having it all..." she finished while Regina got to her feet and knocked the staff from his hand.

Persephone picked it up.

"It's okay. Use it. End her," Hades encouraged, smiling.

"Zelena...I do believe in you. I defended you when no one else did. I wanted so badly for you to find love but sometimes love blinds us," Regina sobbed. "Hades tried to kill me already."

"No, she's lying!"

"Robin died to protect me. That's what true love is. It's sacrifice. It's giving up everything for the person you love. But Hades won't give up a single thing for you. Like he said, he wants it all."

"Listen to her. She doesn't think you deserve to be happy. Look at this office. Look at this town. This all belonged to her when you had nothing, remember?" he hissed.

"Of course I do!"

"All you have to do is kill her and you can have everything you ever wanted."

Persephone raised the staff, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"If you won't, I will."

"All I ever wanted was love. You told me that was enough for you but now I realize...NOTHING EVER WILL BE!" she sobbed, the staff glowing in her hand. She spun around and thrust the end of it into his heart, holding it there until his body became a pile of dust on the floor. Hades was back in Ephesis where he belonged but it was not the last she'd see of him.

Avonlea (Rumple Strgoff-Gold's Estate)

Winter 2018

"What the hell is going on? What did you people do to my sister?" Regina demanded.

"They've restored my memories Regina," Persephone soothed, setting the cup of ambrosia Ozmalita had given her down. "Lilliana, Dorothia, Adora and Wyatt are not the only ones who have died and been reborn. So was I and in my first life I was Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld. Didn't you find it odd that I restored Hades' power with True Love's Kiss? It was no kiss, dear. It was a spell my daughter cast to trick me into giving him his powers back so that I would use my father's lightning staff to kill him and send him right back where he belonged." She smiled wryly. "My mother's curse...that we would turn on each other until our bloodline died out. However now, the joke is on her."

"How so?" Rumple Strogoff demanded.

"The stronger the love of our family becomes, the weaker it makes her. All magic comes with a price as we all know and that is her price to pay."

She glanced over at the table where Rumple was sitting, him still trying to process what he was seeing and hearing. One of his nemesis a cursed goddess? It was insane, yet he'd always known she possessed powers beyond those of a normal mage.

"How did you find out that's who she was?" Regina asked.

"I had my suspicions when I was the Dark One," Archie Connor-Hopper said. "But Loki learned the truth from Titania. Alemedia was bragging to her about it."

"And everything you've done..." Rumple went on.

"I have to live with that. It's the price I pay in this life. I cannot undo any of it. Time travel is forbidden for a reason and I never should've attempted it as Zelena. But I can make certain no one EVER attempts it again."

She searched with her Sight and located all the spellbooks mentioning time travel and destroyed them.

She approached Loki Laufeyson. "You have been a loyal ally to my descendants and I would like for you to continue to do so in my absence."

"Absence? Where are you going, Zelena?"

"The Underworld," spoke up Alina Laufeyson-Gold. "It's true isn't it? You have to spend six months there and six months with your mother."

"The part about my mother no longer applies but yes, I am bound to spend six months in Ephesis. The other six months I can be here with my daughters...Ozmalita and Robin."

"Not really what I would call a happy ending Sis," Regina mumbled.

"Sometimes that's the price you pay for happiness," Loki Laufeyson interjected.

"Tell Odin you have my permission to act as a legate in my family's affairs," Persephone said to him. "And if he has a problem with it, tell him to take it up with me."

"I will tell him," Loki replied, his eyes dancing. "He shouldn't mind too much. Will you need to inform your father? I am unclear about protocol where the Olympians are concerned."

Persephone made a face. " I no longer exist as far as he's concerned. I have been banished from the Olympian pantheon but not the Ozian Pantheon since it was my creation and only my husband can oppose me...but if he wants me back, he'll have to play ball."

"Zelena, you don't have to go back to him. You don't love him," Regina said to her sister.

"But I do," Persephone confessed. "He wasn't always like this, Regina. He could've taken my father's place at the head of our pantheon, but he didn't. The Hades I fell in love with always shied away from Olympian politics as did I."

"You thought you could change him before and look what happened! He tried to kill Robin. He stole Bae's soul and made it look like you killed him. Let him rot in the Underworld."

"No. It has to be this way. This is my penance for the wrongs I've done in this second life. No one gets a free pass Regina no matter how many good deeds they do."

She opened her mouth to protest but Persephone raised her hand for silence. "We're no heroes Regina. Deep down there's still a bit of the darkness inside us but our task now is to keep it contained. And I am doing so by going to the place my darkness was born."

"What about Robin?"

"I am trusting you and her father to take care of her in my absence."

She crooked her finger at Loki.

"Do you have something on your mind Seph?"

It had been centuries since anyone had used her old nickname, but she knew he would remember it even if they hadn't interacted much during their lives. "Tell Sig to keep her ugly stick close. She might need it."

She summoned a pomegranate and a knife and as she cut into the piece of fruit six seeds fell into her palm. The moment she ate the first one she vanished in a puff of smoke.

Ephesis

Winter 2018 - Summer 2019

She found her husband in his throne room sipping a cup of tea and listening to Dream of a Witch's Sabbath from Berliotz Symphonie Fantastique.

"Zelena," he whispered. "You've come back."

She flicked her wrist and he was yanked out his chair and slammed into the wall.

"Don't you dare try to pretend you didn't know who I was...husband!" she growled.

"I didn't. I swear to you I didn't!" he protested as he got to his feet.

"Liar! You've been lying to me from the beginning. You never loved me!"

Alemedia snorted from inside her prison. "I should've just left you for dead."

"But you didn't...dear," Persephone hissed. "I know you're cooking up your schemes for revenge but you won't succeed because I'm back and I'm putting this bloody house in order!"

It wasn't easy keeping a watchful eye on Hades and Alemedia while trying to care for her youngest child. She didn't dare risk taking Robin to Ephesis and missed her terribly when she was away from her. She'd been so focused on her responsibilities in the Ozian Hell realm that the prophecy her mother had spoken to her about long ago never crossed her mind.

Now she'd been summoned to the second Asgard to attend Loki Odinson's wedding to Belle Leroux, an incarnation of Belle not a fairy tale creature but a mortal woman born in eighteenth century France. A woman now a goddess through the heart division spell, the same spell used to unite the Guardians of the Balance with their bondmates. Belle Leroux and Loki Odinson, whether they knew it or not, were considered two of the Guardians in their Asgard. Ozmalita was more concerned with her mother finding a new co-consort.

"I'm telling you to cheat on my father. You never completed your bond and Ephesis needs a co-consort that has more control over darkness and light. You've made your mistakes, but he's made worse. Thor is available, isn't he?"

"No, no, no, HELL NO!"

"Why not?"

"Bloody hell Ozmalita, he's a frat boy!"

"Our version of him is a frat boy but maybe this one isn't."

"Thor's Thor no matter what bloody version of Asgard he's in. I don't date frat boys. End of discussion."

"He may surprise you, Mama."

"Ozmalita Diosa, don't you dare try to fix me with up with him. I'm not interested."

Alternate Asgard

Summer, 2019

Thor Odinson was interested in her, even knowing what would be required of him if they married.

"You...you want to do this? You want to become my consort? You don't even know me!"

Yet she wanted to believe he was willing to try.

"You are right. I don't know you-here in this form. Yet . . . a part of me has known you . . . in ages past. Can you not feel it? The connection?" He placed her hand on his heart, and she could feel it thumping beneath her hand, slow and steady, while the magic of the storm stirred in his blood and sparks drifted from his fingers.

"My mind has no memory of knowing you before but my heart does," she confessed. "That is why I created the bond of hearts spell. Our hearts know where they belong before our minds do."

"Aye. The way Loki knew Belle. Despite the fact that her heart was reborn into a mortal body." Thor nodded. "But fear not. If time is what you require, then I will give it to you. There is no need to rush, for as the brother of one who is Master of Time, we have time on our side. I would ask leave to court you, Lady Persephone, after the custom of my people, and I pledge on my honor to protect and respect you the way your husband never has. I swear by Yggdrasil!"

He had sworn by the River Styx, at least his version of it...an unbreakable oath.

She prayed it was a decision he would not live to regret.


	2. Hellfire In Her Heart

Bathesda, Maryland

Fall, 2019

While Loki and Belle were off on their honeymoon in modern Norway, Persephone decided to give Thor his own introduction to modern Midgard by taking him first to Bathesda, Maryland where Ozmalita was now living under the name Doctor Natalie Durant. They would be travelling by vehicle, Persephone warning her intended consort that she was not a very good driver. Unfortunately, her rental car also did not accommodate his tall frame well at all. His head struck the ceiling immediately after he climbed in.

"Don't they make these things any bigger?" he grouched, massaging his scalp.

"Not that I know of. I don't drive that often….oh bloody hell how many colors do you want!" she yelled at the driver in front of her when the signal light changed and the car didn't budge an inch. Thor nearly jumped out of his seat when she slammed her hand down on the center of the wheel and there was a loud noise.

"What was that?"

"That is me telling this idiot to get their arse moving! Finally!" She slammed her foot down on the accelerator and moved into the opposite lane. "GET OFF THE PHONE YOU TWAT, YOU'RE DRIVING!"

"You're not supposed to talk on that little box then?"

"No because you can't concentrate and NICE TURN SIGNAL MORON!"

"Do you always get angry like this when you drive?"

"No, only when I'm driving around stupid people," she growled. "And some of these people scrape the bottom of the barrel."

"I think I'll teleport or just travel on foot," he mumbled.

"I prefer the broom. That reminds me…one of these nights I'll take you out flying."

He chuckled. "I can fly without a broom, but I'll give it a try. They don't have broom traffic, do they?"

"No but I have crashed a broom or two after having too many drinks. Won't be doing that again. And you can't drink and drive either."

"These cars go fast and there's a lot of them out here…so many shapes, sizes and colors and they get you where you need to go without flying or walking!"

"Oh, they fly too but in planes, jets and helicopters."

"Keep left at the fork to stay on I-95 S, follow signs for Express EZPass," Thor heard the voice Persephone called 'Siri' instruct her from the console. He looked around. "Seph…..I don't see a fork anywhere. What's she talking about?"

"Ummm….she doesn't mean an actual fork Thor," she giggled. "Though I did think the same thing the first time Regina took me driving on the interstate."

Thor's forehead creased. This was probably one of those puzzles Loki would have understood in two seconds.

"Does she get as angry as you do?"

"Worse!" She looked up at the sky that had suddenly darkened and turned on her headlights and windshield wipers. Small pellets of ice began to rain down on the car.

"Bloody hell! The app didn't call for hail!"

Thor looked around again, the same phenomenon occurring on the other cars, forcing some of the drivers to pull their vehicles off the road. They then heard menacing laughter inside the car.

"Having a little trouble, dear."

"Hades, you son of a bitch!" Persephone cursed as her husband's image appeared on the console's computer screen. "I don't know how you're doing this but I'm stopping it…now!"

"I'm not giving you up without a fight," he growled.

"Then bring it to me not them."

"So what if a few mortals get killed. I'll enjoy collecting them."

"The only thing you'll be collecting is coins to cross Styx when I get done with you!"

Thor waved his hand. "You're not the only one who can control the weather," he taunted, cancelling Hades' spell.

If it was a fight Hades wanted, a fight he would get.

"Says the patron saint of frat boys," Hades retorted.

Thor cast a ward over the car and the vehicles of the other drivers on the highway.

Moments later a red '57 Chevy came up beside them, a ginning Hades at the wheel.

"Oh I didn't think you actually knew how to drive that thing, just conjured it to impress me."

"...I don't want to set the world on fire

I just want to start a flame in your heart..."

Persephone cringed at hearing the familiar song on the stereo...it had once been THEIR song.

"Do you remember that night in the Underworld when we had that picnic by the car..." Hades asked.

"I'd rather forget," she hissed and sped up.

Thor was furious. "So why don't you go back there!" he growled and a portal appeared in the lane in front of Hades's car. They heard him scream in rage while he was being pulled into it.

"That should hold him! Seph? Are you alright?"

She shook her head and pulled the car over to the side of the road, laying her head on the steering wheel. "I hate him, I hate him...I HATE HIM!"

Thor reached over and laid a hand on her back and began to rub small circles, struggling to control his temper and comfort Persephone at the same time.

"I never...I never should've involved you in this.." she sobbed.

Yet she felt part of her would die if he walked away now.

His hands were warm and gentle unlike Hades's, always rough and cold.

"Do you think I would leave you to face this alone?" he queried softly. "I am pledged to you. Come what may. Good or bad."

His large hands massaged her neck and shoulders, touching the spots of tension he could feel and releasing them with several gliding motions. "See? The sun has come out. Like my mother always says, after the storm the sun shines upon us again."

"Mmmm...maybe I should hire you as a masseuse at my gym," she murmured.

"Now would you really want me massaging some other woman's back, darling?"

"Oh hell no! I'd never get you back then!"

He was already traveling glamored after they'd heard about the near-mob incident involving Loki in Norway. Thor did bear a striking resemblance to his film counterpart

"No need to worry, I'm not going anywhere," he reassured her. "Do you feel better now?"

"Much better." She smiled through her tears. "We'd better get going or Ozmalita will start to worry."

She started the engine.

"Yes, let's be off. And if that . . . that coldhearted weasel tries anything else he'll get my boot up his arse!" Thor growled.

"Would you do it with me

Heal the scars and change the stars

Would you do it for me

Turn loose the heaven within..." they heard Nightwish singing on the stereo.

The song was one of many random tracks her daughter and descendants added to her phone's playlist but she couldn't help thinking it described Thor Odinson perfectly.

Thor grinned as he listened to it, his cerulean eyes dancing. "I like this song."

"My Ozopov descendants listen to these people often. I do love the music and the woman's voice sounds operatic. She's not with the band anymore."

Thor nodded. The song was perfect and he was determined to learn as much as he could about the modern world during their was also looking forward to meeting her youngest daughter. Though the circumstances surrounding the child's birth were shocking she was one of the few lights her mother had in life. Thor wanted to be the other.

She finally spotted the signs for the National Institutes of health campus and turned off. Because it was a government facility, they would need to be cleared through security before they could see Ozmalita.

They passed through the checkpoint easily even with Thor wearing Mjölnir on a chain around his neck, a trick he'd been taught by Persephone prior to their arrival.

"Everyone will think you're just another fan," she explained. "The movies and comics are popular here."

"Though inaccurate according to my brother," Thor reminded her. "I hope I don't run into any of those...fangirls you call them."

"That's what the glamour's for," she giggled.

They found Ozmalita in her office. Persephone's daughter took one look at Thor's glamour and smirked. "You made him look like Jeb. Good call Mama!"

"Who is Jeb?" Thor asked.

"My grandson," Persephone answered proudly. "He's a Deputy Sheriff in the United Realms. I would have glamoured him to look like Wyatt but I think Stephen would've freaked out."

"You've got that right. He's already having a hard time adjusting to my being a goddess but he'll get over it."

"Ozmalita..."

"Call me Natalie Thor."

"Very well, Natalie. Your father gave us some trouble on the way here. Is there any way you can have a talk with him."

"I'm afraid not. He knows I'm furious with him for not telling me Mama was alive and taking souls and sending them to the Realm of the Forgotten without my approval. Make no mistake...he's going to make your lives a living hell."

"I'm ready for it. Does he have any weaknesses, any at all?"

"That would be you. Thor. The stronger the bond between you and Mama grows, the weaker he becomes."

Thor clasped Persephone's hand in his, and the contact sent quivers through both of them. "I'm assuming the closer we grow, the more tricks he will try to break us apart? It's a good thing I'm very stubborn."

"So is he," Persephone muttered. "I would not put it past him to use the time travel spell."

"But you burned all the books!"

"He still knows the spell."

"He tries it all the pantheons will want his ass."

Thor's eyes narrowed. "What spell do you speak of? Is it like that Bolverkr used to try and make an alternate reality, causing my father to sacrifice himself to stop him? If so, Loki will kick his arse, since he is the Norse Master of Time."

"Yes. and to cast it he needs a resilient heart, a brilliant mind, the courage of a warrior and the soul of an innocent child."

The Thunder God looked thoughtful. "Then we must make sure that never occurs."

"He knows I used Regina's heart, Rumple's intelligence, Charming's courage and Neal Nolan's innocence the last time."

"If he tries again, who might he pick?"

"My guesses would be one of the Six Rumples or Ambrose since he is the scarecrow, Wyatt since he was the Tin Man, Raw and...HE'LL TAKE HER OVER MY DEAD BODY!"

Thor blinked. Though he knew he was slow on the uptake compared to Loki's quicksilver mind, he could put two and two together. "You mean your baby daughter?"

"Yes! That's what I was afraid of before!"

Thor stroked Mjolnir. "I will protect her, Seph. Perhaps we could bring her to Asgard? Not much gets past the Watcher. Or Odin."

"Yes."

"Loki can help fashion a disguise to fool everyone. Now that he has come into his full power as the Heir and a Runecaster, there are very few in the pantheons who can match him."

"I hate to bother him with this after he just got married."

"Mama, you have got to stop trying to fight alone!" her daughter pleaded.

"She is right, alskling," Thor agreed, calling her the Norse for "darling". "Loki adores children, and he would not hesitate to do whatever he can to protect a child. Especially family."

"Let them help, Mama."

"All right."

"That settles it. You can take Robin to Asgard."

"I believe Loki and Belle are still there now," Thor remarked. "They would have returned there after Norway to retrieve Ragnar and to see how our parents are faring before returning to Loki's castle."

Persephone giggled. "Maybe I should take some bikes back with us to keep them in shape!"

"Mama, Rumple Gold is right. You enjoy torturing the men on those bikes."

Persephone tossed her hair back and laughed. "Well I am wicked dear and wicked always wins."

There were many aspects of her cursed personality she hated, the worst being her obsession with the second version of Rumple. She met him years earlier in the Enchanted Forest where he began to tutor her in magic. She proved to be an exceptional student but her jealousy of Regina and her infatuation with her mentor had been her downfall. She'd taken him captive, tricked his son into sacrificing his life for his resurrection and used him to travel back in time to kill Robin Hood's wife. Marian's soul was safe in Paradise and earning her forgiveness had been one of Persephone's primary missions once she regained her memory.

She'd recently watched an old movie called 'Fatal Attraction' and was horrified between the resemblances between the character of Alex and her cursed self as Zelena. Oh Alemedia had done her work well.

"Mama, I know what you're thinking. Don't," Ozmalita pleaded.

"Your sister did her work too well. Every time I think about what I did as Zelena it makes me sick!"

"You're not torturing anyone now, alskling," Thor soothed. "You are making amends for the mistakes you've made as your cursed self. we cannot say the same for Hades and your daughter. We must get Robin to Asgard, out of their reach as quickly as possible." He sighed. "I'm not fond of troubling my brother either but we are out of options."

"We will be going back for Rumple and Mal's wedding. We should take her with us then." Persephone smiled. "It will be practice for Belle when she becomes a mum...which will be soon."

Thor's eyes widened. "What? I am to be an uncle? How do you know this, Seph?"

"A woman knows these things, dear. I...I became pregnant with Lurline and Alemedia before Hades and I were officially married...and now I doubt we were...officially."

"What do you mean?"

"We never had a ceremony," she confessed. "I don't think any of the gods in our pantheon did. They just got together and poof...they were considered married."

Ozmalita made a face. "How romantic. My wedding might have been a simple one in an Ozian village but it was still a wedding."

Persephone looked away, hesitant to reveal one of the more painful memories of her life with Hades. There was only one other person who knew her secret and that was Archie Connor-Hopper, spoken during one of her sessions with him.

"You might as well know all of it. Your father will try to use it against me anyway. The only other person who knows what life with your father was like is Archie Connor and he would never betray my confidence."

"You've been seeing him for counseling?" Ozmalita inquired gently.

"What is counseling?" Thor asked.

"Mind and soul healing," Persephone explained. "You talk to someone for an hour or so and they help you cope with problems that plague your mind and your soul. I never expected Archie to be willing to help me because I abducted him while I was Zelena, turned him back into a cricket and caged him. Before that I had him watch Robin while the Evil Queen and I went to a beauty spa. He was wonderful with her even while under duress." Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I'm amazed anyone wants to help me at all knowing everything I've done!"

"Mama, you were cursed to be the worst version of yourself and you've bent over backwards to make amends for it."

"She's right, Seph. You must stop torturing yourself or you will gave Hades and Alemedia more power over you. Didn't you once tell me that Alemedia is part wraith, feeding on pain and misery? Now that she can't feed on her Dark Ones she's trying to take it from you. As for Hades, he's not going to try to worm his way back into your life again."

"Let's have lunch and stop worrying Mama. We'll do this together."

Ephesis

The Ozian Hell Realm

Hades threw his champagne flute into the fire. "Well, so much for THAT idea!"

"Are you certain we cannot get to Robin in Asgard?" Alemedia demanded.

"Not unless we want both Lokis our asses Alemedia and one of them is watching you closely after that stunt you and Titania pulled on his son. However..." The Underworld God grinned. "The time travel spell is still an option only we won't be moving backwards in time...we'll be moving forward. Persephone is not powerful enough to block me from walking the mortal real...yet."

"But she can."

"If she acquires Odinson's powers yes."

"All right Papa, you have my attention. How is travelling forward in time going to help us?"

"You have one dagger left...one and it's been transported to The United Realms. We could use Sapphira Magestrix as your vessel but your powers are stronger when that vessel is one from your own bloodline. Think about it Alemedia. This time you can have a vessel with a direct blood link to your mother."

Alemedia smiled. "My half sister. You want to travel forward in time, put the dagger in her hands to free me."

"Are the wheels in your mind turning yet, daughter?"

"I'm not as daft as you think Papa! How many times have Mother's Guardians beaten me and I've come right back? And then...I can unleash my Destroyer!"

His eyes widened. "You really want to let that monster out of his cage again?"

"Silas Finster was the finest of my Dark Ones. He's killed Guardians before."

"You want him to wipe out Guardians from all six realms. That's a tall order, daughter."

"Not for him it isn't. He killed at least thirty of Nonestica's refugees the night of the Final Eclipse."

"I have one more request."

"You always do."

"We make him a god."

"Done!"

"Now how do you propose we get the ingredients for the time travel spell?"

"Leave that to me."

Bathesda, Maryland

Thor was relieved Persephone was able to put her troubles aside for a while so that they could have a wonderful lunch with her daughter. They were making plans to spend the evening together when Ozmalita received a call thart she was needed for another case. Persephone and Thor quickly said their goodbyes and returned to The United Realms

The United Realms

"...You want to take our daughter where?" Robin Hood demanded.

"To Asgard. She will be safer with my family. Hades wouldn't dare go up against my parents. They'd have him, to use a modern Midgardian phrase 'running screaming back to Mama.' I can understand your concern but you must believe me this is for the best. We cannot have Hades attempt to use her for his spell," Thor insisted.

"The spell siphons twenty years of the child's life force to work," Persephone explained. Regina's eyes widened in shock and horror.

"Sis! Is that what happened to Snow and Charming's Neal?"

"Yes...and I replaced it once I regained my goddess powers."

"Well those bastards aren't getting my heart again."

"He can't use the same ingredients twice. He'll need new ones."

"And you think Robin is one of them."

"He knows I'd do anything to protect her."

"Then take her to Asgard. Keep her safe," Robin pleaded.

"Regina in the meantime you and the other Guardians need to lock this realm down tighter than Fort Knox. I will deal with Hades and Alemedia myself for I have no doubt they'll try to get a vessel for her final dagger."

Robin placed their daughter in Persephone's arms. Little Robin had been asleep but awoke the moment she felt her mother's presence. Persephone could sense that some of her demigoddess powers were already active but she'd bound the rest to activate on the child's twentieth birthday.

Ephesis

The Ozian Hell Realm

"We have our destination daughter. That dagger needs to be in your sister's hands the moment her demigoddess powers unlock," Hades informed his daughter, waving his hand over the seeing globe he'd been using to spy on his treacherous wife.

"Why can't we travel to the past?"

"That's exactly what they're expecting us to do. We can't show our hand too early, now can we?"

"No but I cannot wait to see the look on that bitch's face."

"I can't wait to drag her powerless back to Olympus and force Zeus and Demeter to watch while I blast her into oblivion. And then I'm going blast them all into it with her."

"Grandfather would be so proud."

"Yes, he would."

Asgard

Thor and Persephone returned to Asgard later that day. Persephone intended at some point to bestow upon Belle the Ozian fertility blessing that had only been used by the Guardians.

"I don't think she really needs it alskling but my sister-in-law is not one to reject any gift."

It was his hope that he and Persephone would have many children together. When he expressed this desire to her, her reaction was not what he expected at all.

"I don't think I can have a male heir."

"You can't...or you wish not to?"

"No, Thor, I don't think I can. That's what I'm trying to say."

"I don't understand. Why?"

"I...I think Hades may have cursed me not to...or my mother did."

When Thor mentioned this conversation to his brother, Loki had his own theories.

"She may be right Brother but I would suspect Hades more than her mother."

"Why?"

"Given what I know of Hades, he seems like the type that wouldn't want any other man in his territory, even one born from his seed because the boy would be threat. You know Hades's own father Cronus tried to kill him. Hades would kill the boy before he was born or kill him before he took his first breath."

Loki sighed deeply. "Believe me, I know that fear too well. I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for Father. Laufey left me for dead." His eyes met his brother's. "This is going to be a long and painful war, Thor. I should be at your side."

"You have Belle to think about! Do you think I can't do this?"

"It's not that I think you can't. I know you can but Brother...we don't know the full extent of Hades's power."

"Everyone has a weakness, Brother. I know two of his."

"His ego is one...what's the other?"

"His obsession with my bondmate. I need to recover my past memories. There has to be something in there that can help us with this Hades problem."

"Perhaps Mother will have some answers. She's the one who told you the legend of the Sky God and The Underworld Queen. Talk to her."

Thor smiled. He relied on his mother's counsel as much as his brother's. "I'll speak to her after the wedding."

Later that evening after Persephone retired Thor sought out his parents in their chambers. They'd taken to little Robin immediately, treating her like a grandchild and she'd taken to them too. She loved having them rock her to sleep and playing with Odin's beard.

"Something's troubling you son. What is it?" Frigga asked worriedly.

"This situation with Persephone. I keep thinking there is something in this Sky God legend that can help us win this battle with Hades. Who was the Sky God?"

"I didn't study those ancient legends as closely as your mother has unfortunately," Odin confessed. "But I believe the theory she has is correct."

"What theory?"

Frigga gestured and a book appeared in her hand. She flipped through the pages until she found the section she wanted and handed the book to him. His eyes widened.

"Mother! The book you're holding...it's identical to one Persephone has! Her descendants call it The Book of the Ancients and in it are the complete geonologies of all the pantheons in all worlds. It's supposed to be written in a language only those of her bloodline can translate but this one is written in Old Norse! How long has it been here?"

"Since I came here as a young bride. It's been in my family's possession for centuries."

Thor marked the place and flipped through the book. "This book is different from the one Seph has...the heart division spell is missing and a few other things I can't think of right now." He turned back to the section on the Sky God and The Underworld Queen and began to read. "No...that's...that's not possible!"

"Gods can be reborn into other pantheons darling."

"Mother, according to this you think...you think I am the father of the Greek Pantheon!"

"You've always had great powers son," Odin spoke up. "And your mother and I have felt the traces of a biding spell since your birth."

"You were born at sunrise," Frigga added. "Once Persephone came to us I started thinking about that old legend again. My mother once told me that she Saw I would give birth to a child with the power to unite darkness and light but I always laughed it off. Her Sight was not always clear but in this instance I believe it is. You, my son, are the primordial god Uranus reborn and Persephone your consort Gaea!"

He shook his head. "It's not possible. There has to be some mistake. I'm not a primordial god. I can't be!"

"Why do you doubt it?"

"Why not?" he countered. Do I look like a primordial god, Mother? I'm not powerful enough to be one. Loki is."

"I would stake my life on the belief that you are!" she cried passionately.

"I wouldn't advise it. My family is my life and I couldn't bear to lose any of you on a wild theory."

"Then how do you explain the binding we sensed?"

"Someone having a go at you?"

"Loki has a different destiny than you my son," Frigga said softly. "Yours is to reunite with Persephone and restore the balance Cronus's son is trying to shift into darkness."

"And as a primordial god your powers would be greater than his," Odin added.

"You believe this too, Father?"

"I do," Odin said firmly.

Thor raked his hand through his hair. "I want to believe this Mother, truly I do but it just seems so...so outrageous. Right now all I want to believe is that I can be strong enough to protect Persephone and little Robin. She's not my child but I'm starting to feel like a father to her."

Frigga cupped his face in her hands and gazed into his eyes. "If you cannot believe in yourself how do you expect Persephone and Robin to? Even if you won't believe you are the Sky God, believe in the man you are now. You are Thor Odinson and I believe HE is strong enough to do battle against Hades and win!"

"Thank you Mother."

She kissed his forehead. "Go to bed son and rest."

He tossed and turned all night, haunted by the words in the book and his own fears.

Persephone said her tearful goodbyes to her daughter a few weeks later. Once they returned to the United Realms Thor received a message from Loki and Belle with the news that Belle was expecting the couple's first child. Persephone was attending one of her counseling sessions with Archie Connor. Thor thought about having a session or two with one of the six therapists himself and decided to speak to the only one of them with an understanding of magic. He'd never been able to bring himself to mention his mother's theory to Loki or Persephone.

The Northern Island Palace

Thor teleported to the snow covered mountains that were once known as The Northern Island in the destroyed realm Nonestica. Persephone's descendant Azkadellia Ozopov and her husband Jiminy made the palace on the mountain their home in the winter months though the decor was what Persephone called 'a hippie den' rather than a royal residence.

"One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small

And the ones that mother gives you, don't do anything at all

Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall

And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you're going to fall

Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar has given you the call

And call Alice, when she was just small

When the men on the chessboard get up and tell you where to go

And you've just had some kind of mushroom, and your mind is moving low

Go ask Alice, I think she'll know..." he heard a woman singing when he brushed back the beaded curtains and walked into the grand ballroom.

"Jiminy? Are you here?"

A bean chair appeared at his feet. "Yeah. Have a seat."

The chair barely accommodated his tall frame though he tried to make himself as comfortable as he could. Seconds later Jiminy Ozopov appeared in a chair across from his. He held a notebook and pen in his hand.

"So, why do you feel you need to see me?"

"Where do I start?"

"Where you feel comfortable starting."

Once he started talking, he couldn't bring himself to stop. He talked about his childhood, his estrangement from his parents and Loki and finally his mother's outrageous theory of him being the primordial god Uranus. Jiminy listened attentively while he wrote in his notebook.

"So do you believe it's possible?"

Jiminy looked up from his notebook. "As possible as a former cricket being a Guardian."

"But if I'm a primordial god where are my powers? Where are my memories?"

"Cloaked until the time comes to use them. I was born with magic but my powers didn't activate until I arrived in the OZ. Maybe in your first life you Saw what you were going to be and what you were going to do in this life and prepared for it but your powers aren't going to do you much good if you lack confidence."

"I'm trying to find it."

"I can help you but you have to do most of the work on your own."

Thor leaned forward. "Where do I start?"

Jiminy pressed his hand against the god's chest.

"In our hearts lies the truth we seek," he quoted.

**Author's Notes: Songs referenced: Ever Dream by Nightwish, I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire by The Ink Spots, White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane **


End file.
